'Dogs have their day

Falcons hardly playing dead in collar-ful day with media

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Posted: Wednesday January 27, 1999 06:36 PM

Where's the leash? To signify his team's role as Super Bowl underdogs, Ray Buchanan wore a studded dog collar to Media Day AP

MIAMI (AP) -- Ray Buchanan has been dogged for guaranteeing a Super Bowl victory. He's been dogged about Atlanta's lowly status in the NFL. And he's been dogged by the many frustrated opponents he's shut down for most of his career.

So on Tuesday, Media Day at the Super Bowl, he showed up for the hordes of interviewers wearing a black leather dog collar with silver studs.

"I'm doing this in fun," the Pro Bowl cornerback said. "People have us as seven-point underdogs. So I thought I would put on my dog collar.

"The lack of respect is always going to be there until you start proving yourself as a team," added Buchanan, one of the first free agents coach Dan Reeves signed when he took over the Falcons in 1997. "This team went through a lot of trials and tribulations to try to win football games. It's a big shock to a lot of people that the Atlanta Falcons are here. But if you take a good look at how we play football, you'll see why we're here."

Lofton's Analysis I loved Buchanan's collar. The collar was great, because what it signified is that they are the underdogs in this. But Ray Buchanan did not back off of his guaranteed stance. And when I talked with a lot of the Broncos players and even some of the Broncos coaches, they were saying "Well, it's fine for this guy to say this, but we will see on Sunday, because talk is cheap." -- James Lofton

It seems that nobody on either side believes the Falcons should be much of an underdog. They did go 16-2. They beat their NFC West nemesis, the 49ers, two times, including once in the playoffs. They went to Minnesota and eliminated the highest scoring team in league history to win the NFC title.

This week, at least, no one is praising the Falcons more than the guys on the team they'll meet in Sunday's game. The Broncos know all about this underdog stuff -- the Green Bay Packers were an even bigger favorite (12) to handle Denver a year ago. But who went home with the championship rings?

As defending champions, the Broncos wonder just who has any kind of edge -- the team trying to make history with a second straight win or the upstarts who have already surprised nearly everyone by getting this far.

"If anything, it can work against you," safety Steve Atwater said, referring to the Broncos' role as favorites. "You can tend to get a little complacent and your opponents can use that as motivation. They haven't been here, so they will be fired up. We have to make sure we're more fired up than they are.

Meyer's Analysis When I was out there, I thought all of the players were really jovial, relaxed and laid-back. But you know there are two people who were fairly serious. One was Dan Reeves. He was presented the Staples Coach of the Year award and he related a lot back to Tom Landry and how much Landry influenced him. He never opposed a change for Landry if it helped the team. And he was very innovative, citing the shotgun move. Then out comes Mike Shanahan. He is very serious, relating all of his stops along the way, including Florida. He even gave great credit to Al Davis. He said Al taught him a lot on how to win.-- Ron Meyer

"I think it's more difficult to come in the way we are, as a defending champion. We have to come up like last year, very hungry."

As Buchanan held court from his podium, his collar nearly blinding everyone when the sun reflected off the studs, tackle Bob Whitfield looked over from his berth about 10 yards away, shook his head and laughed.

"I don't know if that's stylin'," he said. "But I know what Ray's trying to say."

Which is?

"Let's have some fun, because things get a whole lot more serious after today."

Both teams seemed to enjoy the cattle call at Pro Player Stadium. And everyone dismissed the favorite-underdog scenario with relish.

"It may sound crazy," Broncos linebacker John Mobley said, "but we feel like we're the underdog here. I think with that, everybody is going to come out and play like the underdog, where we have to fight, scratch and claw to get on top and get where we want to be."

That, of course, is right where Denver has been since beating the Packers a year ago: on top of the NFL. It's not a place the Falcons have been close to until now.

How better to define an underdog than that?

"When you look at where this team came from," Buchanan said, adjusting his collar so it shined directly into a television camera, "it was only fate that we were supposed to be here and win this game.

"A lot of people put a lot of different hurdles in front of this team, but we just went ahead and jumped over every one of them. I feel this team can get over any hurdle that may be placed in front of us, if only everybody believes."

 

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